PS3 Attitude’s 20 Days of PSN – #17: Shatter

Frankly, we don’t really have to tell you much about Shatter in that you already know it’s a fantastic game. We gave the title a glowing review and its soundtrack even made the cut for the top 7 PS3 soundtracks. That’s how good Shatter is. It should come as no surprise then that it makes #17 on our Top 20 PSN titles.

Read on to find out why Shatter is #17 in our Top 20 PSN titles…
Shatter is a game that you can instantly pick up and play for five minutes or for five hours. Based on the classic Breakout games, Shatter brings the block busting genre into the modern age with new gameplay mechanics, amazing visuals and a killer soundtrack. It’s the triple threat.

While you imagine there couldn’t be a story associated with hitting bricks with a paddle and a ball, you’d be wrong. You play as BAT1138, a slave to the machine empire forced to harvest energy for his masters. After a breakdown, he becomes self aware and breaks free from his prison. In order to escape, BAT must successfully traverse the 10 levels of the factory and defeat the bosses at the end of each.

This isn’t your average game of Breakout though. That was so 30 years ago. Utilizing the new “suck and blow” mechanic, you’re able to maneuver the ball into bricks and score major points. Every time to bust open a brick, shards come out which you can collect. Gather enough of them and you’ll be able to unleash a furry of them that destroys anything in your path. It’s a great way to take down the bosses or get that one brick that you just can’t hit.

Another aspect that sets Shatter apart from the rest is the variety of levels in the game. You’ll see the familiar top to bottom orientation but there’s also left to right and the even more obscure circular level. They’re constantly changing so you never know what’s coming next.

In addition to the single player mode, you can unlock Boss Rush and Bonus Mode. Boss Rush lets you tackle all 10 of the bosses in order as you attempt to beat them in the fastest time possible. Bonus Mode allows you to play the bonus stages that are at the end of each single player level without having to go through all 10 stages beforehand. It’s modes like these that contribute to the longevity of Shatter.

Shatter is a game you don’t get tired of. Even if you’ve beaten it dozens of times, you continually want to go back and try to get a higher score or faster time. Online leaderboards track your rankings and some of the scores posted on there are absolutely insane.

There have been plenty of remakes and reimaginings of the Breakout genre of games but none do it as well as Sidhe’s Shatter. If you have yet to pick up this gem of a title, what are you waiting for?